Combined air eliminator and vacuum breaker



P 3, 1969 G. B. RIY'CHARDS I 3,437,104

COMBINED AIR ELIMINATOR AND VACUUM BREAKER Filed Oct. 12, 1966 Sheet of5 //v VE/VTOR GEORGE E. RICHARDS April 8, 1969 5. 8. RICHARDS 3,437,104

COMBINED AIR ELIMINATOR AND VACUUM BREAKER Filed Oct. 12, I966 She at 3of s' IV V E N TOR GEORGE E RICH/4R0? April 8, 1969 mc 3,437,104 I vCOMBINED AIR ELIMINATOR AND V ACUUM BREAKER I Filed Oct. 12, 1966 Sheetof 5 /V VE N TOR GEORGE E. RICH/4 R05 United States Patent ice 31.104

U.S. Cl. 137-202 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An air eliminator andvacuum breaker employing flexible reed type valves actuated by a floatwhich moves the reeds against and away from associated valve seats asthe level of liquid moves up and down in a float chamber. Each reed isconnected to the float on the opposite side of the float from the seatportion to which the respective reed is secured.

The present invention relates in general to fluid control devices, andit relates more particularly to a combination air eliminator and vacuumbreaker which is well suited for use in water supply systems.

In water supply systems of the pressurized type, water is transmittedunder pressure from a reservoir or pumping station to various locationswhere it is ultimately used. Underground pipes are commonly used tocarry the water from the reservoir or pumping station to the user and itis important that such pipes be completely full of water, i.e., freefrom air. Since the commonly used water pipe is unable to withstand ahigh vacuum, it is also important that the pressure within the pipe beapproximately atmospheric or greater. In the past, these two differentobjectionable conditions have been avoided by two separate pieces ofequipment, an air eliminator and a vacuum breaker, and a multiplicity ofthese devices are used in a typical water supply system. Air being lessdense than water tends to rise to the high points in the system and itis also at the high points where the occurrence of a vacuum would bemost destructive. Consequently, because of the fact that they are bothneeded at the high elevation points of the system, an air eliminator anda vacum breaker are usually located side-by-side.

Although combination air eliminators and vacuum breakers have notheretofore been used in water supply systems, there is a type of aireliminator widely used in the petroleum industry which is also capableof use as a vacuum breaker. This type of air eliminator employs aplurality of flexible reeds which are connected to a float which movesthe reeds against and away from associated valve seats as the level ofliquid moves up and down in a float chamber. The flexibility of thereeds may be such that when the pressure in the float chamber is lessthan the downstream pressure across the valve seat by a predeterminedamount, the reed is forced away from the seat to open the valve andequalize the pressures. Several air eliminators of this general type aredisclosed in United States Letters Patents 3,021,861 granted Feb. 20,1962 to H. R. Billeter and G. B. Richards; 3,131,709 granted May 5, 1964to G. B. Richards; 3,154,091 granted Oct.

Patented Apr. 8, 1969 27, 1964 to G. B. Richards, et al.; 3,230,965granted June 25, 1966 to G. B. Richards; and 3,230,966 granted June 25,1966 to G. B. Richards.

While the air eliminators disclosed in the above-identified patentscould be used in water systems, because of the high pressures andvolumes to be handled, the devices would have to be relatively large andit would, therefore, be desirable to provide a combination aireliminator and vacuum breaker which would be smaller or less massivethan these prior art devices.

Hence, the principal object of the present invention is to provide animproved air eliminator construction suitable for use in a highpressure, high volume, liquid supply system.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedcombination air eliminator and vacuum breaker.

A further object of this invention is to provide a combination aireliminator and vacuum breaker which is suitable for use in a communityor industrial type water supply system and which is sturdy inconstruction, compact in size and both eflicient and reliable inoperation.

Briefly, the above and further objects are realized in accordance withthe present invention by providing a reed type air eliminator in whichthe convolutions of the reeds are increased by one-hundred percent overthose of the prior art eliminators without any appreciable increase inthe overall size of the device. As a result, the reeds may be heavierand stronger to handle greater pressures and to permit the use of largervalve ports. It will be understood that this construction can also beused in systems handling lower pressures and volumes and in such casesthe reeds may be the same weight as those used in the prior arteliminators but the overall size of the unit can be substantiallyreduced.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of operation,together with further objects and advantages thereof, will best beunderstood by reference to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view of a combined air eliminator and vacuumbraker embodying certain features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top view of the device of FIG. 1 with the cover removed;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the portion of FIG. 1 includingthe outlet port;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of the float assembly used in thedevice of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 5 is a top view of the float assembly of FIG. 4;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view, reduced in size, of the floatassembly of FIGS. 4 and 5;

FIGURE 7 is a front elevational view of the valve seat and reed supportused in the device of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevational view of the valve seat and reed supportof FIG. 7;

FIGURE 9 is a top view of the valve seat and reed support of FIGS. 7 and8;

FIGURE 10 is a front elevational view of the reed support used in thedevice of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 11 is a side elevational view of the reed support shown in FIG.10;

FIGURE 12 is a top view of the reed support shown in FIGS. 10 and 11;

FIGURE 13 is a sectional view of another combined air eliminator andvacuum breaker embodying the present invention; and

"FIGURE 14 is a top view of the device of FIG. 13 with the coverremoved.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2thereof, there is shown a combined air eliminator and vacuum breakervalve which includes a cover member 22 sealably secured over the top ofa main housing member 24. The members 22 and 24 may be castings havingrespective flanges 26 and 28 provided with a plurality of aligned holes30 for receiving mounting bolts, not shown. A suitable O-ring gasket 32is mounted in an annular recess at the top of the housing member 24 toprovide a seal between the housing 24 and the cover member 22.

Water or other liquid may be supplied to and from the float chamberwithin the housing 24 through a port 34 provided at the bottom of thehousing 24. The opening 34 is tapped to receive a conventional plumbingnipple for connecting the device 20 into the system. A drain port 36 isprovided near the bottom of the housing 24 and is also tapped forreceiving a suitable plumbing nipple or plug (not shown).

Inspection and testing of the operation of the device 20 is facilitatedby means of an opening 38 provided in the cover member 22. As shown, theopening is tapped for receiving a plumbing nipple or a plug.

A plurality of bosses 40 which form an integral part of the housing 24extend inwardly from the inner wall thereof about the periphery of theinlet port 34 and provide a means for preventing a hollow, sphericalfloat 42 from seating directly on the bottom of the float chamber andblocking the port 34.

Referring also to FIGS. 4 and 5, it may be seen that the float 42 issecured to and forms a part of a float assembly 44. Suitably secured tothe float 42 such as by means of a weld 46 is a float stop member 48which is generally box-shaped and may be formed from a single sheet ofmetal. The float stop member 48 includes a pair of off-turned,horizontally disposed stop flanges 50 and 52 which are adapted to bedisposed in a common horizontal plane when the eliminator 20 is in avertical position. As is more fully described hereinafter, these flanges50 and 52 cooperate with other elements in the device to limit theupward movement of the float assembly 44. The stop member 48 furtherincludes vertical side wall portions 54, 56, 58 and 60 with theoppositely disposed end walls 56 and 60 being spaced apart by adimension equal to the diameter of the ball 42. The side walls 54 and 58depend to a position where they engage the surr face of the ball 42 andmay be suitably welded to the ball at the positions of engagement. Forease of manufacture, the marginal edge 62 of the Wall 60 is welded tothe adjacent corner of the side wall 54. Supporting surfaces for a pairof balancing reeds 100 and 102 are provided by a pair of verticalflanges 63 and 65 at the marginal edges of the side Walls 54 and 58.

An air outlet port 64 is provided by a hole in the wall of the housingmember 24 near the top thereof and is suitably tapped for receiving aplumbing nipple which may be connected to the atmosphere. A valve seatassembly 66, shown in detail in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, is secured to theinner wall of the housing 24 by means of a pair of machine screws 68 and70 extending through counterbores in the housing member 24 above andbelow the port 64. As shown, the assembly 66 includes a pair ofelongated ports 72 and 74 aligned with the opening 64.

In order to resist corrosion and to provide a resilient seat for thevalve member, the valve seat assembly 66 is preferably formed ofstainless steel which is partially covered with a suitable resilientmaterial such as Buna N to provide a resilient valve seat surface and toprovide a seal around the port 64. The lower end of the metal portion ofthe assembly 66, which is identified in the drawings by the numeral 76,is uncoated and is off-turned to provide a mounting tab for anassociated reedlike valve member 78. The valve member 78 is flexible andin order to prevent its being deformed at the location of the valveseat, the separate ports 72 and 74 are provided and separated by anintermediate wall member 80. Moreover, the valve seat area isconstituted by a plurality of raised rib-like portions 82, therebyproviding a minimum seating area.

The flexible reed 78, which functions as a valve member, is apertured atits lower end and is secured to the tab 76 by means of a machine screw84 which extends through the hole in the reed and is threaded into anaperture 86 in the tab 76. The reed 78 extends up over the top of thestop member 48 and back down into the space between the .walls thereofto provide a convolution. The opposite end of the reed is connected tothe inside of the wall 56 by means of a screw 88 which extends throughan aperture 90 in the wall 56, through an aperture in the reed and intoa nut 92. The reed 78 has a width suflicient to overlie the valveopening 72 and 74 in the valve seat assembly 66 and is located along adiameter of the eliminator. The offset of the tab 76 causes the reed 78to be biased against the valve seat to insure that the valve closestightly when the float assembly moves into the valve closing position.

In order to equalize the transverse forces on the float assembly so thatit will move only in a vertical direction, as the level of liquid in thehousing member 24 varies, a pair of reeds and 102 are respectivelyfastened to the pair of off-turned flanges 63 and 65 on the stop member48 by means of nut and bolt assemblies 108 and 110. The opposite ends ofthe reeds 100 and 102 are fastened by means of nut and bolt assemblies112 and 114 to a Y reed support bracket 116 secured to the side of thehousing 24 directly opposite to the port 64. The bracket 116 is bestshown in FIGS. 10, 11 and 12. As shown, the reed support member 116 hasa central web portion 118 provided with a pair of threaded apertures 120and 122 for receiving mounting screws 124 which extend throughcounterbores in the side of the housing member 24. The lower end of thebracket 116 is provided with a pair of struck-out off-turned tabs 126and 128 which are apertured to receive the nut and bolt assemblies 112and 14, respectively. Inasmuch as the bracket 126 is merely a fixedsupport for the reeds, it need not be coated with a resilient materialas is the preferred embodiment of the valve seat member 66.

Inasmuch as the reeds 100 and 102 exert a force toward the right, asviewed in FIG. 1, on the float assembly 44, the purpose of which is tocounterbalance the force exerted to the left by the reed 78, thecombined effect of the reeds 100 and 102 must be equal to the effect ofthe single reed 78. Accordingly, where the reeds are all of the samethickness and formed of the same material, it will be apparent that thereed 78 should have a width twice as great as each of the reeds 100 and102 which are of equal width.

Operation When the combined air eliminator and vacuum breaker 20 isconnected into a system, the port 38 will normally be plugged orconnected to a valved inspection line in which the valve is normallyclosed. The port 64 will be connected to the atmosphere and the port 34will be connected to the Water line whereby water flows into the floatchamber through the inlet port 34. In the absence of air in the system,the chamber within the housing 24 will be substantially filled withwater whereby the float assembly occupies the uppermost position (shownin FIG. 1) as determined by the stop flanges 50 and 52 seating on thelower edges of the valve seat assembly 66 and the reed support bracket116. In this position the reed 78 seats against the valve seat therebyclosing the ports 72 and 74. As explained hereinbefore, the aireliminator 20 will normally be located at a high point in the system sothat any air in the system will collect in the upper part of the aireliminator housing thus decreasing the level of liquid in the floatchamber with the result that the float assembly 44 will fall under theforce of gravity toward the bottom of the housing 74 whereby the reed 78is moved away from the valve seat to open the ports 72 and 74 wherebythe upper portion of the float chamber is opened to the atmosphere. Theair collected at the top of the eliminator will thus be forced out ofthe system by the water moving upwardly in the float chamber until thestop flanges 50 and 52 again seat against the bottoms of the members 66and 116 and the valve ports 72 and 74 are closed by the reed 78.

Should the pressure within the chamber 24 decrease below atmosphericpressure, an inwardly directed force will be exerted against the reed 78forcing it away from the valve seat and thereby breaking the vacuum inthe system. The degree of flexibility of the reed 78 should thus beselected such that it will be moved away from the valve seat at apressure differential less than that which would collapse the pipes ordamage other equipment in the remainder of the system.

Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14, there is shown another embodiment of thepresent invention. As there shown, a combined air eliminator and vacuumbreaker 130 includes a housing 132 defining a float chamber over the topof which is sealably connected a cover member 134. The cover 134 and thehousing 132 having mating flanges 136 and 138, respectively, which areprovided within aligned apertures for receiving a plurality of fasteningbolts 140. A test opening 142 is provided at the center of the cover 134and is threaded at the upper portion 144 for receiving a plug 146 or asuitable plumbing nipple. The opening 142 is provided at the bottom witha thread 147 for receiving a bushing 150.

In this embodiment of the invention a unitary member 148, which may bemolded of a suitable plastic, such, for example, as Delrin sold by E. I.du Pont de Nemours Corporation of Wilmington, Del., includes a circularplate portion 149 having a peripheral annular flange 152 which issecured between the cover 134 and the mating portion of the housing 132.An O-ring gasket 154 is received in a suitable groove at the top of thehousing member 132 for sealing the float chamber from the atmosphere.

A tubular air outlet section 156 depends from the plate portion 149 inline with a threaded opening 158 in the cover 134 and is provided nearits lower end with an aperture 160 facing toward the center line of thehousing member 132. A resilient washer 162 is suitably secured to thetubular portion 156 by means of a pair of countersunk machine screws 164and provides a valve seat surrounding the opening 160. The lower end ofthe tube 156 extending below the washer 162 is provided with anoff-turned face 166 to which the lower end of a flexible reed member 168is secured by means of a screw 170. The opposite end of the reed 168 issecured by a bolt and nut assembly 172 to a plate-like bracket 174 whichis welded to a ball float member 176 directly opposite to the valve seatwasher 162. A pair of counter-balancing reeds 178 and 180 arerespectively connected on opposite sides of the reed 168 to anupstanding plate-like bracket 182 which is suitably welded to the ballfloat 176 and are connected at their opposite ends by means of a pair ofscrews 184 and 186 to an arm 188 which depends from the flange 152. Thereeds 178 and 180, which lie in planes parallel to that of the reed 168have a combined width equal to the width of the valve reed 168 wherebythe opposing transverse forces on the ball float assembly are balancedout.

In operation, the combined air eliminator and vacuum breaker 130operates in the same manner as does the air eliminator and vacuumbreaker 20.

It may thus be seen that the present invention provides an aireliminator construction in which the diameter of the float chamber isnot substantially greater than that of the float but the reeds haveconvolutions exceeding the diameter of the float and approximately thatof the float chamber. A more compact unit is thus provided which enablesthe handling of the relatively high pressures encountered in watersupply systems and the like.

While the present invention has been described by means of particularembodiments thereof, it will be understood that those skilled in the artmay make many changes and modifications without departing from the truespirit and scope of the invention, and accordingly, all such changes andmodifications which fall within the true spirit and scope of thisinvention are intended to be covered in the appended claims. Forexample, the flexible reeds may each be formed of different materials orprovided throughout their lengths with variable widths or thicknesses toexert a biasing force on the float to urge it in either a valve openingor closing position. Similarly, the valve seat can be contoured ororiented to provide this same eifect. Also, additional valve ports maybe provided for engagement by the balancing reeds and 102, and ifdesired, the balancing reeds need not be disposed in planes parallel toone another or to the center reed. All of these possible modificationsof the herein described embodiments of this invention are described indetail in the heretofore mentioned patents.

I claim:

1. Apparatus of the type comprising housing means defining a chamber andhaving an opening therein communicating with said chamber and having aninternal valve seat portion facing into said chamber,

a valve actuator movable in said chamber in a direction generallyparallel to the plane of said valve seat portion, and

a resilient strip member secured near one of its ends to said housingadjacent to said valve seat portion and near the other of its ends tothe side of said actuator remote from said valve seat,

said strip member being bent back upon itself to provide an intermediateportion of bowed shape eX- tending across the top of said actuator, and

said valve seat portion having an orifice therein positioned to beclosed by said strip members when said actuator is in a first positionand to be exposed when said actuator is in a second position.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said actuator is a floatassembly disposed in said chamber.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 further comprising a plurality ofadditional resilient strip members each secured at one of its ends tothe side of said housing opposite to said valve seat and at the other ofits ends to said float assembly in close proximity to said valve seat,the inter-mediate portions of said additional strip members being bowedand extending across the top of said float assembly.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the first of said stripmembers is positioned intermediate the other two of said strip members,

said strip members being constructed such that the transverse forceexerted on said float assembly by the first of said strip members isequal to the combined transverse forces exerted on said float assemblyby the other two strip members.

5. A combination air eliminator and vacuum breaker comprising a housinghaving a float chamber therein,

at least one liquid inlet and one gas outlet passageway communicatingwith said chamber through said housing,

a float disposed in said chamber and adapted to rise and fall inresponse to changes in liquid level in said chamber,

a valve seat surrounding said air outlet passageway,

valve means including a resilient strip member secured at one end tosaid float and secured at the other end to said housing adjacent to saidvalve seat, said ends being spaced apart by an intermediate portionwhich is free and maintained in bowed shape, said intermeidate portionextending across the top of said float to an extent equal to at leastone-half the corresponding dimension of said float, said strip memberbeing bent back upon itself and being of sufficient length so as to formtwo generally opposed portions, one lying against said float and theother against said housing such that in one position of said float saidmember lies against said valve seat References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 2/1962 Billeter 137202 X 1/1966 Richards 137-202 10 ALAN COHAN,Primary Examiner.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE PATENT OFFICE Washington, D.C. 20231 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,437,104April 8, 1969 George B. Richards It is certified that error appears inthe above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

Column 4, line 44, "14" should read ll4 Column 6, line 43,

"members" should read member Signed and sealed this 14th day of April1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

